A NEW FAMILY: COLOSSIANS 3:12-17

A NEW FAMILY

Colossians 3:12-17 

Introduction:  A Church goer wrote a letter to the editor of the newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. “I’ve gone for 30 years now,” he wrote, “and in that time, I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So I think I’m wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”

            This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:  I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”

            In case you are wondering today, why go to Church? We go to church because, Church is A New family that we belong to. For some it is a family they never had, for others it may be the only family they ever knew. Among several metaphors used to describe Church, in the N.T, the family of God is perhaps the most endearing one. God the father adopted us into his family through the life, death and resurrection of his beloved son Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul more than anyone uses, “family metaphor” when it comes to describing God’s intentions and the functions of his Church. Through his letters, he reminds his audience that they belong to a New family, the family of God. He also gives them certain behavioral principles to help them function better in their new family of God. We read a few principles in his letter to Colossians 3:12-17

Background: Colossae was an important city of Phrygia in Asia Minor, situated to the east of Ephesus. Most probably this Epistle was written by Paul while he was a prisoner in Rome, about A.D 62. In ancient times Churches met in people’s homes. Tradition tells us that “The Church in Colossae may have met in the home of Philemon.”[1] Paul’s tone while writing this letter was personal, intimate, filled with love and concern, as if was writing to his close family members. Moreover, he uses a Greek word (adelphoi) to address the members of this house church, which literally means “brothers & sisters.” He uses this form of address quite frequently. These are the believers both men and women who are a part of the family of God.

            Let me bring this to our context. In reading the history of Hope Church I found that “Hope Church was begun in 1957 by several families who were dedicated to the scriptures and missions. The founding group met first in a home, then moved to an auditorium in the Sharon Town Hall, eventually were able to purchase land and build this beautiful church building. The common bond of shared experience and ideals that the founders enjoyed is still present.” The family atmosphere here in Hope church is, what I was attracted to. 

            Just like the Church in Colossae you had your beginnings in a humble home where relationships have begun, survived, thrived, and continued for a long time and some are still continuing. We have some wonderful, God fearing men and women of God who have toiled and labored for Hope Church and several of them still do so, we are grateful for them. Those of us who have joined Hope Church recently, need to know that we belong to a family and we have a “family heritage and mandate.” Now it is up to all of us to take the values, the mission and the vision of Hope Church further. If we want to see our Hope Church family not only survive but thrive, it takes all of us working and moving together in one direction.

            Though we come from different families, bringing our unique strengths, weaknesses and values, and call hope Church our family, we must recognize that first and foremost we belong to A New Family, a much wider and diverse family of God. The Apostle Paul was reminding the Church in Colossae that they were not just on their own, but were interconnected with the New Family of God. In this letter, he introduces a process of Spiritual Formation. It is a process of becoming personally and interpersonally mature. This process contains three sub categories: Cultivating spiritual disciplines, Corporate Worship and Collective Service.

            Before we discuss these categories. How does one become a member of this New Family?  As we did not choose our birth family, similarly we cannot automatically become a member of God’s family. It is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. When we respond, to the Spirit and believe in Christ then we will be saved. Jesus said, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12.

            Our initiation into this New Family begins by Christ, continues in Christ and completes in Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “Salvation is free but Discipleship will cost all your life.” According to the apostle Paul believers in Christ are “chosen by God, are holy and are beloved” Because of what Christ has done we are already made holy and we are dearly loved by God, this is the basis of working out our spiritual formation. Let the process begin.

I. CULTIVATING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES: (12-15)

             The apostle Paul gives us a command to cultivate these virtues of: being compassionate, being kind, exhibiting meekness the antidote for pride, remaining gentle when treated with harshness, and being patient which is also translated, “longsuffering” the opposite of quick anger, resentment and revenge. What keeps all these virtues in perfect unity? It is love.  Just like in any family we are to put up with one another with all our idiosyncrasies in our church family.

            We are to forgive one another as Christ forgave our sins. When we keep, practicing these virtues the peace of Christ will reign in our hearts. The Greek word “peace” refers to both the call of God to salvation and consequent peace with him and the attitude of rest or security that believers have because of that eternal peace. The second category: Corporate worship:

II. CORPORATE WORSHIP (Vs 16)

             Sharon is a very religious community. For a city of eighteen thousand people we have 7 synagogues, 9 churches and 1 mosque, and there are a number of Buddhists and Hindus among us. We can learn a lot from our fellow Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist and Hindu communities.  For them, going to a Synagogue, or a Mosque or a Temple on certain days is an honor and a privilege. They do it with such pride and dignity. We see whole families going for worship.

My cousin is a Lutheran church pastor in Abu Dhabi, where Friday is the religious holiday and Sunday is a working day. Though they have a church service on Friday, he conducts a special worship service on Sunday evenings as many were accustomed to go to church on Sundays.

            How are we showing enthusiasm when it comes to coming to church on Sundays? Let’s make this as our new year resolution, that we go to church each Sunday to worship God corporately unless we are sick, travelling or away on another assignment. Hebrews 10:25 “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” What kept the early Christians strong in their faith under tremendous persecution? It was their habit of coming together in homes. In vs 16, the Apostle Paul gives us a model of what we do when we come to church to worship God corporately. We give him thanks and praise through our singing of spiritual songs and hymns. We come to listen to a message of Christ through the pastor or a preacher. We encourage, admonish and spur one another towards good works. The third category is collective service.

III. COLLECTIVE SERVICE (Vs 17)

            We are to be profoundly grateful for the gift of salvation we have received from God. Now it is our turn to let our light shine among people through good works. Through our love for one another and for the world many will glorify our father in heaven. Our Church family is a great place to start serving the Lord through our gifts and talents. As I said earlier it takes all of us doing our part to take the mission, values and vision of Hope Church further.

            Just like in any family, there is no place for spectators in our Church. If you have a gift, or a certain talent and you want to use that to serve the Lord please speak to me or one of the elders and we will see how best we can facilitate your desire to serve. Our collective goal and vision should be that people get saved and they become committed followers of Jesus Christ.

            In order to see this goal accomplished we may do a number of things but let’s keep one thing always in mind, we are not here to please anybody except our Lord, so whatever we do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God our father. In closing let me reiterate the main points again. We belong to the Hope Church family. Hope Church belongs to a New Family of God. As members of this New family of God we are called to work out our Spiritual formation. Our Spiritual formation is best worked out by cultivating spiritual disciplines, getting involved in Corporate Worship and Collective Service. Amen

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[1] http://religiouslyincorrect.com/Articles/TriCityAreaEarthquake.shtml

A Promise of Restoration: Ezekiel 11: 14-21

A PROMISE OF RESTORATION

Ezekiel 11: 14-21; 01/01/2017

Introduction: Ezekiel was deported to Babylon in 597 BC. Ezekiel was unconventional, he used pantomime, would cry and wail and slap his thighs, ate a scroll and did many other unusual things to burn the message into the minds of the people. Through Ezekiel’s unusual visons and hard hitting prophecies we get the picture of a holy and transcendent God whose name and glory must be protected. By contrast Judah had sunk to the depths of depravity in national apostasy. God had to punish His people because of His hatred of idolatry, so he sent them into exile in Babylon, but He never stopped loving them.

        In Chapter ten we read about one of the saddest days in the history of Judah, where Ezekiel saw the glory of God departing from the temple in Jerusalem. Can you imagine what it must have been like for Ezekiel, to actually see the glory of God leaving the temple? To add to his shock, there were twenty-five leaders giving misleading advice to the people.  As if these were not enough, the Lord has exposed the apostasy of the nation of Judah.

      Seeing all these at once, Ezekiel must have been heart broken. So, he fell on his face, lifted his voice aloud and said, “Alas, Lord God, “Will you bring the remnant of Israel to a complete end?” Let’s pause here! What does this 597 BC prophecy concerning Judah have to do with us the people of Hope Church in Sharon? The nation of Judah in general represents the heart of every human that turns against God, more specifically an individual Christian believer who has hardened his heart and is not responding rightly to God.

      In the 21^st century, are we any different than the nation of Judah of 597 BC?  Whether we like it or not Christianity in the US and the rest of the western world is on the rapid decline. What is causing this sharp decline of Christianity in the West? What must we do to stop it?

The reasons could be many, and one of the reasons I believe is, “Prosperity and affluence,” they distract people from a life of devotion to God and being committed in a church. Just before Christmas, Wilma and I visited someone who claimed to be less spiritual and not interested in going to Church. At the same time, he lamented that very few these days still go to Church, we asked him what he thought might be the reason for this lack of interest, he said, “people are simply too lazy to go to church and they have lost respect.” It is so true isn’t it?

     Coming back to our text. The Lord gave a promise of restoration through Ezekiel to the remnant of Judah. God was going to restore true worship of himself, he was going to give them a new heart and spirit, and he was going to restore their vision to serve him. I believe on this New Year’s Day because He loves us, God is making a similar promise to us. Let’s look at it in detail.

I. A RESTORED WORSHIP Vs (16)

            From the time of its formation, God’s intentions have been that the people of Israel would love him, call him father, worship and serve him only and nothing or no one else. The first two of the ten commandments declare that intention. But as we know time and again they broke their faith with by worshipping idols and false gods. As a result, he punished them by removing them from Jerusalem where the temple, God’s dwelling place was located.

            We need to understand that the temple played a major role in the religious, social, and civic life of the Jews at that time. For them it was unthinkable to be removed from Jerusalem, but now they were living in other nations, longing to one day return to Jerusalem, and worship God again in the temple. Though the Lord scattered them among the nations he did not leave them without a place of worship, he himself became their sanctuary or dwelling place. God promised that one day they would return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple and restore worship.  

            What can we learn from Israel’s History? God, had chosen the people of Israel to serve and worship Him alone, but they rebelled against God. We see some similarities in the way God has saved us. There was no good in us, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Not by works but by His grace we have been saved. The purpose was that we might love and worship and serve him, let’s admit just like the people of Israel, we too at times turn our backs against him. Instead of worshipping God we worship our self-made idols of wealth, success, fame, and popularity.   When all of our mind, attention, time and energy is focused on these become idols that rob us of our desire to spend time with God in worship and prayer. 

            E.M Bounds, while explaining the importance of worship in prayer, notes how grace affects our worship, “Where grace abounds, song abounds. When God is in the heart, Heaven is present and melody is there, and the lips overflow out of the abundance of the heart. This is as true in the private life of the believer as it is so in the congregations of the saints.  The decay of singing, the dying down and out of the spirit of praise in song, means the decline of grace in the heart and the absence of God’s presence from the people.” [1]

            On this First Sunday, how is your heart?  Are you weighed down by the heavy burdens of life, unable to break forth in singing praises to God? Do you feel like God is millions of miles away from you? God wants to draw you into his presence where there is fullness of Joy, He wants to put a new song in your heart so that your heart once again will be filled with worship of God. When God comes to your heart and restores worship it will be like in heaven.

II.  A NEW HEART & A NEW SPIRIT (Vs 19)

            Vs 19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” There is rich theology in this verse. This scripture speaks of the sovereignty of God. He can do what he wills to do. He can harden hearts and he can soften them if he wants to. Has he hardened hearts in the past?

            There were a few instances where God hardened the hearts of people, for example God hardened the heart of Pharaoh (Ex 7:3). God hardened the hearts of the enemies of Judah so that he might destroy them (Joshua 11:20). But more often than not, in most cases, it was the people of Judah who have hardened their hearts. They simply refused to believe, and obey God. They remained stubborn and obstinate. So, he scattered them abroad.

            Through the prophecy, we learn that the remnant will repent and return and when that happens he has promised to give them one heart (an undivided heart) and put a new spirit, and in the place of a stone heart a tender heart that will respond rightly to God’s leading and guidance.

            How does this promise of a new heart and a new spirit work for us? First of all, we need to recognize that we have been distracted by many things in life. The cares and worries of life choke our faith and hinder us from growing in the Lord. Our hearts are divided and our loyalties have been compromised. Unless we repent and return to God we might be in a danger of incurring the wrath of God due to our stubbornness and obstinacy. Though we come to church, regularly, hear convincing messages, attend bible studies and are active in small groups, we must ask ourselves how much of what we hear have we been practicing in our day to day lives?

            In a gracious way, God is appealing to us, if anyone here is hardening their heart, listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying, Hebrews 3:7-8, “Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts.” What is the prerequisite for God to give you a new heart and a right spirit?

            That you repent, and turn to God and put away anything that might be displeasing to God, then He will give you a willing heart and a new spirit. What is the purpose of God in restoring true worship and giving us one heart and a new spirit? So that our vision might be restored.

III. A RESTORED VISION (Vs 20)

            God does not do anything randomly, behind his every act there is a divine purpose. He can cause and use all things and all people to work together to fulfill that purpose. What was the purpose behind choosing Israel from among the nations? That they become a beacon of light and bring hope to all nations. Ezekiel 5:5-6“This is what the sovereign Lord says: This is Jerusalem, which I have set in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. Yet in her wickedness she has rebelled against my laws and decrees more than the nations and countries around her. She has rejected my laws and has not followed my decrees.”

            But Israel has disappointed God, they have lost their God given vision of serving Him. I believe that one day God will restore His vision for all Israel, and He has been patiently waiting for that day, but in the meanwhile he has raised up people for himself from among both Jews and Gentiles, who have accepted His son Jesus Christ as their Savior. Hope church is a part of that worldwide movement of God. What is God’s vision for Hope Church? That we might become a beacon of hope not only in Sharon but around the world. His vision for us is that we might walk with Him and through our faith and obedience we might glorify Him.

            How can we practically do that?  We do it by intentionally reaching out with the gospel to people of all nations. We do it, by becoming devoted followers. We do it by embracing people regardless of their race, gender and ethnicity or background.. On this first Sunday of 2017, my prayer for Hope Church is “Oh, Lord please restore true worship, give us an undivided heart and a willing spirit and restore our vision so that we might serve you and glorify your name.” Amen

     

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[1] E.M Bounds on prayer, page 27

WHAT KEEPS A CHURCH TOGETHER

 WHAT KEEPS A CHURCH TOGETHER?

Farewell Speech, 12/04/2016

            I very well remember how I felt as an emerging ministry leader in YWAM in 1992, when my long-time mentor and leader announced that, their family was going to leave to another city. My first reaction was, how could you just leave us like orphans and move on to another city! A deep sense of fear and uncertainty overwhelmed my heart and rest of the staff members. Several questions flood through my mind, such as, how am I going to survive? What is going to happen to the ministry? How can we keep the community together? Etc.

           Initially I thought I could not make it another day in without my mentor, leader and spiritual father. During that tough transition, I learned some valuable lessons of trusting God, and not relying upon my own feelings and emotions. God gave me grace and strength to continue in ministry for the next thirteen years. As a base director, I led the ministry to the next level.

          The truth of the matter is whenever there is a transition in leadership, it is natural that individuals, and families that are part of a community or a Church go through a sense of uncertainty. Whether we like it or not transition and change happens all the time. They are never easy at the moment things can get rough at times, however when we don’t give up on God, ourselves and one another, together with we will become stronger people of faith.

         After having the joy of serving ECCOA for eight years, our family will be moving to Sharon to carry on our next assignment that God has entrusted to us. That opens up questions like, what is going to happen to ECCOA? How are we going to keep everything together? This morning I want to share with you some principles from the Apostle Paul’s farewell speech to the Church in Thessalonica. The title for my farewell speech, What Keeps a Church Together?

I Thessalonians 5:12-28.

I. RESPECTING THE LEADERSHIP OF THE CHURCH.

     In recent months, there has been a hue and cry among the American Public that, the International community no longer respects the leadership of our country. We have lost our respect hence credibility. But the real question we must ask ourselves is do we respect our own leaders? Do children respect their parents, students their teachers, workers their bosses and the congregation their pastors and other elders in the church? Unlike in other parts of the world, my fellow clergy here agree with me that in the western world, respect for pastors is more and more on the decline, especially among the protestant churches.

     Though we recognize God is ultimately the ruler of all, yet he established government, and the rule of law by which everything is governed. The Biblical History tells us, that he raised up leaders, prophets, judges, rulers, governors and kings who carried out his divine purposes on the earth. God expects us that we obey our leaders, because all authority is established by God. We are to respect them even though we may not agree with them on everything.

    Coming back to our text, Paul wanted to make sure that the leadership or the elders especially those who work hard and admonish the congregation were to be respected and held in high esteem. When it comes to Church governance and order God has established fivefold offices and they are: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers. To equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up, until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).

    According to this scripture the work of a pastor is to equip the congregation to become all that God wanted them to be. Pastor and the elders are our leaders in the church, so they are to be respected. Paul while writing to Jewish converts urges them to have confidence in their leaders. “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you. Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.” Hebrews 13:17-18

If you have ever been in a leadership position you would understand how hard of a task it is to lead, especially those who always appose and are unwilling to be led. Leadership can be a lonely place, where pressures, challenges and burdens abound. Unfortunately, some people in churches make it as their mission to give a hard time to pastors and elders.

My desire for you is that you too would respect, support, and encourage and pray for your elders and your next pastor, whoever they may be. Do not antagonize and make their task more difficult than it already is. Do not oppose them for the sake of opposing them without a valid reason. Doing so is not good for you. Disrespect of leadership, tears the very fabric of a church where is respect keeps a church together. More on a practical way, please support, and encourage James, and Arlene as they are carrying the bulk of the load during this transition. Cover the rest of the board members also in your prayers.

II. CULTIVATING SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES.

            The spiritual health and numerical growth of any church depends a lot on how well the individual believers in that church take care of themselves, emotionally, spiritually and physically. When you come to church on Sunday mornings, and listen to your pastor preach you will only get broad strokes of or a partial revelation of a spiritual truth. If you want to grow in your spiritual walk with God, you need to go back home and do your own independent study. The Holy Spirit will lead you into all the truth and equip you to do every good work.

           This sounds so basic and simple, and yet many of us have hard time cultivating spiritual disciplines. The apostle Paul laid out several spiritual disciplines and encouraged the Thessalonians to cultivate and grow in those disciplines such as: Esteeming hard work; encouragement; living in peace with one another; being patient with everyone; not to pay back evil with evil but pay back with good; to be joyful always; to pray continually; to give thanks in all circumstances. Can you imagine what kind of a church ECCOA will be when every individual believer not only practice these disciplines, but also teach others to do the same?

            My hope for ECCOA is that, you would cultivate these essential spiritual disciplines and continue to grow in them. That you would not quench the Holy Spirit and treat prophecies with no contempt. You will test every spirit to find out whether they are from God. You will recognize false teachings as you will study the truth of God’s word. You will keep short accounts with each other, and not to hold on to bitterness but forgive one another as Christ forgave you and loves you with an everlasting love. As you desire the gifts of the Holy Spirit, may you also eagerly seek for the fruit of the Holy Spirit. All these things will make you a fruit bearing and productive Christian and keep the ministry of ECCOA together.

III. LIVING GOD CENTERED LIVES.

      While preparing for my farewell speech, I read the farewell speeches of some leaders in the Bible, namely Moses, Joshua, Jesus and Paul. In their farewell speeches, they exhorted their followers to believe in God, obey God and live a God centered life. For example, Joshua an ardent and earnest follower of God, in his farewell speech exhorted the leaders with these words. “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness…But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve…But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15

      

      My journey with God began at age 18, as a young Christian I wanted to serve God only all the days of my life. Now after several years of following Christ, as Joshua said I will reiterate my decision one more time, “But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD.” Everything in life, begins with God, continues in God, sustained by God and ends with God. In his famous speech on the hill in Athens, this is what the Apostle Paul reminded the council of Areopagus, “For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.” Acts 17:28. Let’s be assured that all we have comes from God. Let’s live in the center of God’s will. 

      There is no greater honor and privilege on this side of heavens than serving our living God. Nothing can be compared with the Joy of serving our King, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My prayer for each of you is that, at the end of the day you too would join Joshua and me, in saying, “But as for me and my household we will serve the LORD.” During this Christmas season, let’s come together and celebrate the Lord.

      What does practically mean to live God centered lives?  It means recognizing, acknowledging and honoring God in all matters of our lives. It means aligning ourselves to the standards of God’s word and not other way around. It means, seeking God and His Kingdom first. It means saying to God not my will but let your will be done and much more.

        In closing, on behalf of me and my family want to thank you for letting us share our lives with you all. It has been a journey of learning. I want to leave you with this encouragement that you will continue to be faithful in serving God no matter where you are. My prayer for all of us is that, our gracious Lord who began a good work in us will be faithful to complete it. May the Lord bless us, keep us safe and let his face shine upon us. May we become fruitful, and productive as we endeavor to serve our Lord and build His Kingdom here in Quincy, and in Sharon even unto the ends of the earth. Amen